A husband, father, brother and son shares his thoughts about real life and real faith.

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Thursday, October 07, 2010

Sushi

For those of you who know me well, you know that I like to eat. For the most part, I'm not a picky eater. I've tried a lot of different dishes over the years. Between my staff and Lisa, I'm always being pushed to try something new (Indian food with my staff) or healthier (chicken tofu with Lisa). I have to admit that, in most cases, I've walked away saying, "That wasn't too bad. I could probably eat that again."

I said in most cases. The exception is sushi.

I just can't get a grasp on sushi. For one thing, a lot of it is raw. I don't do much of anything raw (except for chocolate chip cookie dough). If I'm going to pay to eat your food, can you at least introduce it to something resembling a flame? I'd feel much better about it.

Then there is the problem of seaweed--another staple in most sushi. There's a problem for me in eating something I pull out of my bathing suit at the beach. I can hear the conversation now, "Lisa, there's a hint of flavor on this sushi. Is that oil from the last Gulf Oil leak or Coppertone I'm tasting?"

So, the last time my staff said let's go get sushi, I declined. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. One of the guys said, "You know, you'd learn to like this stuff if you ate it more. You're just not hungry enough." Hungry enough? How hungry do I have to get? Why wait till I'm that hungry when I have to pass a perfectly good restaurant every 100 yards on the way to the raw fish place?

So...the key is being hungry enough. Maybe that's true with our spiritual growth. In ministry, I see many people who talk a wonderful religious talk. They know the things to say, the references to make and the books to list on their reading list. I know some who are fervent readers of all the latest Christian fare. My question...why aren't we reading the Bible more? I've heard lots of answers. Some are good; most are not. But maybe the reason we can't bring ourselves back to reading God's Word is because we just aren't hungry enough. We've filled our hearts and our heads with the latest good book. We know everything that Swindoll or Warren or Stanley or Hybels might have to say...but what is God trying to tell us?

Don't miss my point. I love reading books by these guys. They are strong. They are insightful. They are wise. They are Godly. But...

...they aren't God. My prayer is that we become hungry enough to go back to the one true source of all we need. Rather than listening to a man's opinion on what God said, pray that God will give you a hunger for nothing short of His words. Got to run. It's lunch time.